


Through This Cold Storm

by Sevka (TheFaultInOurHeads)



Series: Of Snowflakes and Avalanches [3]
Category: Snow Cake (2006)
Genre: Alan Rickman Tribute, Alex gets Good News, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canada, Character Death Fix, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Phone Call, Snapshots, Vivienne is Alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 04:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6268981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFaultInOurHeads/pseuds/Sevka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex is stuck in Winnipeg and about to go stir-crazy, when he receives the best phone call of his life. Sequel to Snowed Under.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through This Cold Storm

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted there to be Snow Cake fanfic. I also wanted Vivienne to not die, and Alex to not drive off into an uncertain future. This is my attempt to keep together what belongs together. A slightly longer scene this time, and I've already written more, so stay tuned! Feedback is always appreciated.

It has been over a month since the accident, and Alex is still sitting in his dingy little motel room in Winnipeg. He could have checked into a nicer hotel by now, but he doesn’t want to. Everything in him rebels against the idea of making this stay seem any more permanent. All has been said between him and the woman who kept his child from him for so many years, and no love is lost between them. He knows that she wants him gone from Winnipeg as soon as possible, and he wouldn’t be happier to comply, because this town will now forever harbour the ghosts of all that could have been. Alex doesn’t care much for ghosts, and ever since his prison sentence, he has no time to waste on them. He will care for the living, he tells himself, and for his own life. But here, in this drab and cold motel room, Alex realises that he doesn’t have a life to go back to.

Three times he has called Linda since he left Wawa, and three times, he has received the same answers to his questions. No, Vivienne’s condition is still unchanged. Yes, Linda herself is perfectly fine, and yes, her parents are still in town. His heart sinks a little every time, because he cannot stay and wait for a miracle forever. At some point, he will have to let this go, and the longer he holds on to hope, the more impossible it seems to walk away. Now, he is bracing himself for his next call.

 _Keep to the script_ , he thinks to himself. During one of his previous calls, he had awkwardly asked Linda about the snow, but apparently it had all melted by then and his question had upset her. _Best not to risk it_ , he thinks. _I don’t want to cause her any more grief_. He will stick to the three questions she expects and is comfortable with. No nonsense. Alex moves to pick up the phone.

Before he manages to finish dialling Linda’s number on the motel landline, his mobile phone rings in his pocket. Alex groans and scrambles to pull it out from in between his keys and some loose change, annoyed at being interrupted now of all times, but he feels his heart skip a beat when he sees the caller ID. Dirk Freeman, Linda’s dad.

Alex feels his mouth suddenly go dry, and he hesitates, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He blinks at his phone’s screen a couple of times, and then starts and shakes himself out of it. He wanted news, after all, and now he’s likely to get them. He presses the Answer Call button.

“Alex Hughes.” He does his best to hide his nervousness.

“Alex? It’s – it’s Dirk, Linda’s father. Is this a bad time?”

“No, no, not at all. I was just about to call Linda myself, actually. Has something happened, then?”

Alex tries to brace himself for the bad news, because it would be too much to hope, too dangerous to think she might be alright after all, it would be-

“She’s awake.”

“Pardon?”

“Vivienne. She’s awake. She woke up this morning and – and there were tests, and all that medical talk, you know, and frankly I didn’t even understand half of it-“

“Just tell me – how is she?”

“Well, the doctors tell us that she’s stable now, so I – we - figured it was safe to let you know.” Dirk’s voice breaks on the word stable, and Alex can’t help but picture him tearing up, a loving grandfather whose granddaughter is not lost to him after all. Then the words fully register, and Alex is spurred into motion, glancing at his watch and then moving to look out of the window. It’s still early in the evening, but dark, and Winnipeg is still a little snowy, and overall driving might be a bad idea right now. But he will need a solid twelve hours to get to Wawa, fourteen with food and coffee breaks. He _has_ to get back there, _now_. He briefly forgets about the phone in his hand, until Dirk interrupts his frantic thoughts.

“You still there, Alex? I know you’re thinking about driving down here right now, but it can wait until tomorrow, son. I just called to stop you from worrying too much. Don’t get yourself killed now, trying to get down here in the middle of the night, alright?”

How the man is able to read him so well, even over the phone, Alex doesn’t know. His words, however, make him stop in his tracks.

“You may be right, but I refuse to be a sitting duck in this town for even a minute longer. I’d rather get a head start. I promise to drive safely and check into a motel along the way, if that’s any comfort to you, but I can’t sit idly in this hellhole anymore - not when I know she’s awake.”

Dirk sighs. “It’s up to you, of course. Just know that she remembers you, and that she has been asking to talk to you. Getting yourself killed won’t do anybody any favours, get that?”

Alex almost smiles at the stern tone and finds himself agreeing.

“I do, and I’ll be careful. Just... tell Linda to get her kitchen ready for me, would you? I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

They bid their goodbyes, and Alex drags his suitcase out from under the bed. The sooner he’s all packed, the sooner he can finally leave town. Tomorrow, he will be back in Wawa.


End file.
